• Everybody’s mad about those Foreign Language Oscar nominations, right? Not Nick Dawson. At the FILMMAKER blog, he notes that nominated films that would have otherwise been deemed too small for US distribution “magically” land deals once it becomes possible to “put the words ‘Oscar’ and ‘Nominated’ in big letters on the poster…As a result, this year Oscar has all but guaranteed us the new films from Nikita Mikhalkov, Andrzej Wajda and Sergei Bodrov – three undeniably great directors — in addition to films like Persepolis, Four Months, Three Weeks and Two Days and The Orphanage.” Much more at the link.
• At Big Media Vandalism, Odienator gives us a homework assignment: “Rent MGM’s That’s Entertainment III to hear Lena Horne tell you how badly she was treated by MGM. She’ll also show you the aforementioned cut pieces of her Cabin in the Sky performance. It’s worth it. She’s singing a song in a bubble bath.”
• “Technological innovation, in my opinion, not only created the movies, but insured that the art form would remain an important part of American culture over more than a century.” So says Scott Kirsner, by way of introducing a post counting out Five Oscar Wins That Shaped The Movies.
• At The Huffington Post, Jack Donaldson explains why he has yet to join the backlash against much-reviled Oscar winners such as American Beauty, Forrest Gump and Crash: “They are the Billy Joel’s of movies, and I’m a big Billy Joel fan.” I applaud the closet-exit on that score, but it’s a bit troubling that Donaldson really doesn’t seem to realise that the Juno backlash is totally in progress.

An article in yesterday’s indieWIRE biz section made me feel a twinge of sadness and more than a twinge of concern. The story began with this:

Foreign-language cinema got another vote of no confidence yesterday, with the announcement of Dreamachine, a new film company formed out of the merger of international sales outfit Celluloid Dreams with U.K.-based HanWay Films.

Yikes. Votes of no confidence are harsh. And machines (even of the dream sort) are a bit frightening. OK, I know I’m not business-minded enough to appreciate decisions like this and understand the possible necessity behind them, but I can’t help feeling like this is a sell-out for foreign films. All in the name of profit.

The article goes on to say that Dreamachine will “continue to take on foreign talents and maintain relationships with its proven staple of auteurs,” but fewer films will be made, and most of them in English. I don’t quite get how those are foreign language films at all, any more. (Celluloid Dream’s Hengameh Panahi estimates only one-third of the titles they take will be foreign language.) Apparently, it all comes down to being able to focus on bigger projects. This surely translates to bigger profits, but better films? It’s hard to imagine.

Panahi, who is widely respected for her taste and commitment to movies she loves, does admit the change isn’t easy for her.

“But the only problem for me is I have to give up on my smaller films, which is hard because I love them,” Panahi continued. “At the same time, I realize there is no economy for those movies anymore.” By taking on films with less commercial potential, she said, “We’re helping the market to become more crowded and we’re helping the small distributor to be more fragile.”

“Everybody is drowning in volume,” Panahi continued.

The volume part is no surprise, with the Long Tail almost a household term these days. But drowning? Do we have to drown? Or can we find a nice little boat to navigate around in? It’s hard for me to imagine that the Long Tail is already shrinking. It’s hard to imagine that VOD and other technology advancements aren’t creating more opportunities for smaller films to find audiences. And it’s hard for me to accept the thought that Dreamachine might become just an old-school Hollywood approach to something that will barely resemble what we used to know of as foreign language cinema. Isn’t this the time of possibility and opportunity? The time to move toward something new, rather than toward old models?

At least people seem to have faith that Panahi won’t sell out entirely, in terms of making only films that are increasingly mainstream. We can only hope.

Our friend Dodd, known as “moviedodd” on Spout, shares with us a bit of what he’s thinking about just hours before the Academy Award nominations are announced. Dodd, who also wrote a Halloween-inspired post for us a few months ago, is a student at Ohio University, where he’s finishing up an M.A. in Film Studies.
- Kristin

It is once again that important time of the year for Hollywood. While complete disasters such as Code Name: The Cleaner and Arthur and the Invisibles are tossed into theaters as part of National January Dumping Season, the best films of 2006 are discussed in great length as top-ten lists are compiled and award ceremonies prepare their nominations. Typically this is a time to compare notes with the Academy and the Golden Globes to see how many of your personal favorites have a shot at the gold. However, this year I must admit to a feeling of dissatisfaction.

The 2006 Golden Globes saw Dreamgirls and Babel taking home the Best Picture trophies. This is not exactly a shocking revelation. Both of these films received mostly favorable reviews from critics. However, when it comes to recalling the highest praised films this year, none of them were even mentioned. Half Nelson? Negative. Children of Men? Not a chance. Pan’s Labyrinth? While nominated for Best Foreign Language Film, it lost out to Clint Eastwood. Emilio Estevez\’s Bobby, though, managed to snag a nomination despite its primarily negative reviews.

The fact of the matter is most of the highly-touted pictures every year fail to get recognized. I am sure it is no coincidence that these happen to be independent films, or those with unconventional storylines and filmmaking techniques. Real gems such as these have become so neglected that they now have their own ceremony, known as The Independent Spirit Awards.

Behind this whole tirade, I am not saying that a film such as Dreamgirls is an undeserving film. Its Detroit-based Motown numbers pulled me in from start to finish, and had my rhythmless limbs moving for an entire week. However, there are plenty of films out there that received higher praise and deserve just as much recognition. As time goes by, it seems as if nominations are more in the vein of the People’s Choice Awards or, (gasp) the MTV Movie Awards.

During this year’s Academy Awards, I will be donning a tuxedo on my sofa, and nodding in mild agreement as Eddie Murphy predictably takes home Oscar gold. However, I will still remember Ellen Page from Hard Candy, Ryan Gosling from Half Nelson, and every other overlooked performer not accepted by the multiplex masses.

(What do you think? Are the Academy Awards and Golden Globes legitimate, or do they need to take a closer look at the year in movies?)